Creating and Managing Flows

A flow is a set sequence of various component-types that can be created, edited, and enabled at the portal level. If you aren't familiar with flows and want to read more details, see this article: What is a Flow?

Locating the Flows Manager

The flows  manager can be accessed in the Portal Management module of the Settings section in the admin. After choosing the portal (if there is more than one), select "Flows" from the left-side menu in the CONTENT section.

Now you are on the flows manager page where you will see a table listing any flows currently existing in the portal:

1. The Actions menu allows you to view, edit, copy, delete, and export the flow.
2. There are two titles for a flow: the user title, meaning the title that members will see, and the admin title which is for internal use.
3. There are two versions of keywords: the user keywords are those that appear on tiles that the member sees and the admin keywords are for internal organization and searching purposes.
4. The type of flow can be either custom or template (template flows appear in the template catalog).
5. The date of the most recent publishing.
6. Status is either published or draft; a published flow is ready for use in the portal.

How to Create a Flow

Click the “CREATE” button above the table.

1. Choose from the template catalog: You can choose to start to build a flow from scratch by choosing blank or blank anonymous flow (an anonymous flow does NOT associate any data with any member account, which is why it's called anonymous). Anonymous flows can be sent to anyone, regardless of whether they are a member or whether they're logged in, and are often used to drive a population towards a specific location/website.
2. You can choose to begin with a pre-built, themed flow by choosing any one of the tiles other than the blank ones (to us as-is or to customize; you can view details about templates in this article).

For the purposes of this article, we are going to explain how to create a flow from scratch which will cover all the components.

Once you hit the “CREATE NEW” button, you will be in the main flow creation and editor tool. This page is divided into three main sections:

1. This is the component column, in which all components are organized in groups. Components can be dragged and dropped into the flow-maker field in the middle of the screen. Component groups can be collapsed by clicking the arrow next to the group header.
2. This is the flow-maker field where you can sequence the components that make up your flow. Moving the screen (which is usually necessary for larger flows) is done by right-clicking and holding as you move. Note that you can always re-open the Flow Settings editors (section 3 in the image) by clicking into the Start of Flow tile).
3. This is the Flow Settings and component editor where you can set the flow settings (including user- and admin-facing descriptions and flow usage configurations) and the content and configurations of the components you choose to use in the flow (for instance, for a question component, you insert the question and distractors here, which we’ll discuss in this article.)

When you begin to create a new flow, the Flow Settings fields should automatically be open on the right side of the screen. If they are not open (if you already dragged a component into the field), click into the "Start Flow" component that is in the flow-maker field which opens the fields on the right where you can set basic details for the flow. 

All of these four categories can be clicked into to expand. Here is what each section is for:

1. The user-facing descriptions include the fields that the member will see when viewing the flow in the portal (as a page tile, for example). Be sure to complete the title, the summary, and the thumbnail (the description and the keywords are optional). 
2. The admin-facing section contains the same fields as the user-facing section, but they are for internal use by admins. The title and keywords appear in the flow management table and are used to identify and categorize the flow. If you are creating a template flow, the summary and description will appear in the flow's tile.
3. In this section, you can set an estimated duration for the flow (how long it takes the member to complete it; common estimations are 200 words per minute and 15 seconds per question). Beneath the duration field, you can decide how the flow can be used in the portal. Toggling these on enables you to do the following, in the order they're listed:
   
   • This flow can be accessed in To-do's, meaning you can select it to assign to a member.
   • This flow can be used as a flow tile in the Page Builder where the member will see the title, summary, thumbnail, and keywords entered into the user-facing descriptions.
   • This flow can be accessed in the messages section, when sending either an email or SMS to a member; to find and include the flow, click on "Resources" and enter the title or keywords in the search bar.
   • This flow can be completed by an admin on behalf of the member in the member's account by going to "Flows".
   • The member's responses to this flow can be viewed by admins in the member's account.
4. This is the flow's unique ID that can be used to give to users to access it.

Building the Flow

To build the flow, select a component from the left column by clicking on it and holding, then dragging it into the flow-maker field in the middle. The editor on the right will open up, allowing you to add details for the component (for instance, putting in question text and distractors for a question or putting in content text for a page component). Any time you want to edit a component after you have dragged into the flow-maker, you can click its tile and access its editor.

• To view a listing of all components available in flows, see this article.
• To read about the branching component in flows, see this article.

Publishing a Flow 

During the process of creating a flow, your work is automatically saved. In the upper right corner, you can see multiple options for saving, previewing, and publishing the flow.

1. Save a draft of the flow without publishing (meaning the current published version of the flow will remain as is, with an updated saved draft).
2. Publish the flow.
3. View a history of flow drafts with the option to restore the flow to a previous version; you can preview the flow and experience it as a member would; you can unpublish the flow and disable its availability in the portal.